This week the National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced over 2,900 winners of National Merit Scholarships financed by U.S. colleges and universities.

Officials of each sponsor college selected their scholarship winners from among the finalists in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program who plan to attend their institution. These awards provide between $500 and $2,000 annually for up to four years of undergraduate study at the institution financing the scholarship. An additional group of Scholars will be announced in July, bringing the total number of college-sponsored Merit Scholarship recipients in the 2024 competition to more than 3,600.

This year, 149 higher education institutions are underwriting Merit Scholarship awards through the National Merit Scholarship Program. Sponsor colleges and universities include 77 private and 72 public institutions located in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

College-sponsored Merit Scholarship winners announced today are a part of the distinguished group of more than 6,870 high school seniors who will receive National Merit Scholarships for college undergraduate study worth nearly $26 million. Earlier this spring, NMSC announced winners of corporate-sponsored Merit Scholar-ship awards and National Merit $2,500 Scholarships.

Among the local winners are:

• Patrick R. Dendis of Cape Coral who attends Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers. His probable career field is in mathematics. He received a National Merit University of Florida scholarship.

• Jakob A. Musich of Cape Coral who attends Dunbar High School in Fort Myers. His probable career field is in mechanical engineering. He received a National Merit University of Florida scholarship.

• Gabriel C. Wright of Cape Coral who attends Cape Coral High School. His probable career field psychiatry. He also received a National Merit University of Florida scholarship.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation is at 1560 Sherman Ave., Suite 200, Evanston, Illinois 60201-4897. Please call 847-866-5100 or visit nationalmerit.org for additional information.